Spartans' District rematch with Woolies is a script straight out of Hollywood

Ken Powers

Thursday

Nov 2, 2017 at 8:26 AM

The Oakmont Regional boys’ soccer team’s first-round game has more subplots that a blockbuster Hollywood movie.

The Spartans are one of four Greater Gardner teams — including their girls’ team — that, having qualified for their respective Central Mass. Tournaments earlier, found out yesterday what their seeding will be, who they will be playing, and where.

The Oakmont boys’ team is the No. 12 seed in the Division 3 tournament, having finished with a 6-8-2 record. The Spartans earned their spot in the postseason by finishing second (4-3-1) in the Mid-Wach C League. The other boys’ soccer team to qualify for the playoffs was 10-5-2 Monty Tech, which is seeded ninth in the Division 3 Tournament.

The Spartans girls’ team, which finished with an 11-3-2 mark, is the No. 2 seed in their Division 3 tournament. The other girls’ soccer team to qualify was Quabbin Regional, which earned the No. 11 seed in the Division 3 tournament, having finished with a 10-7-1 record.

Oakmont’s girls’ team, after a first-round bye, will host the winner of Friday’s first-round game between 10th-seeded Auburn High (10-5-3) and the 13-2-3 Advanced Math and Science Academy (AMSA), the No. 7 seed, in a quarterfinal round game to be played at Arthur I. Hurd Memorial Field at 7 p.m., Tuesday.

Quabbin will travel to sixth-seeded Leicester High (13-3-1) for a 2:30 p.m. first-round game Friday, at the town of Leicester’s Community Field.

On the boys’ side, Monty Tech will play at Uxbridge (7-7-4), the No. 8 seed, at 2:30 p.m., Friday. Oakmont’s first-round game will be against fifth-seeded Millbury High (10-5-3), at 5:15 p.m., Saturday night at Millbury’s Elmwood Elementary School.Millbury High, you may recall, is the team that knocked Oakmont — the No. 1 seed —out of last year’s tournament, defeating the Spartans in overtime, 3-2, in a quarterfinal game played at Arthur I. Hurd Memorial Field.

“A lot of guys on this year’s team were a part of that game last year,” Oakmont coach Lincoln Stiles said. “For many it was their first trip to Districts and if they weren’t actually out on the field playing, they were standing on the sidelines watching it unfold. They remember that game — how much that loss stung — and they are fired up to be getting a chance to play the team that knocked them out of the tournament last year.”

It will be no easy task, however. The Woolies are led by freshman Will Savage, who has scored a Southern Worcester County League (SWCL) best 25 goals. He has also recorded 11 assists. Last year, as an eighth-grader, Savage scored the game-tying and game-winning goals in Millbury’s playoff upset of Oakmont.

“He’s a very good player,” Stiles said of Savage. “This year he scored more goals by himself (25) than we did as a team (19). And he’s got some players around him, too, including senior Henrique Guilherme (six goals, nine assists) and freshman Zach Smith (11 goals, six assists). We have our task cut out for ourselves. They’re a good team from a good division in a good league.”

October was a long month for Oakmont, which lost four of its first five games in the 10th month of the year and surrendered 14 goals in the process, before allowing one goal in its final three games during which it posted a 1-1-1 mark.

“We had some key guys injured and we were playing some tough teams,” Stiles said of the Spartans early October struggles. “But last week we moved some players around and decided to put Jeremiah Maki on defense and our play seemed to turn around.”

Stiles said Oakmont’s recipe for success against Millbury is a simple one.

“Millbury has scored a lot of goals this season so we need to shut them down, keep them out of the net and score a couple of goals,” Stiles said.

If the Oakmont girls’ soccer team enjoys a long playoff run, there’s a good chance they will look back to a 1-0 loss at Gardner (which finished 6-11-1) on Oct. 5 as the spark that lit the fuse.

“Gardner played a great game; they played their hearts out and earned the win,” Spartans’ coach Randy Jepson said. “But it was definitely a wake-up call for us. It showed the girls that the team that wants it more, they’re going to get it.”

Following the loss to the Wildcats, Oakmont finished the season 5-0-1, scoring 13 goals while allowing just three.

“The Gardner game made them realize that they all needed to work hard, they all needed to go to the ball,” Jepson continued. “If only 10 girls are working hard, if only 10 girls are going to the ball, well, that’s not going to cut it; that’s not going to get it done.”

Heading into the tournament Jepson said the team has hit upon a nice mix of consistent defense and timely scoring. He said he doesn’t have one standout player, rather a group that does their jobs well and plays their positions hard. He said he has a team that competes hard in every game.

“I like the way we’re playing; I’m happy with where we’re at,” Jepson said, “but I could always be happier.”

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